Letters To The Editor, 16th, April, 2016

Untreated timber was found among a pile to be used at Gandhi Bhawan Primary School. I am not surprised that the school’s president said the outside layer seemed to be treated but the inside of the timber remained untreated.

The question is how much of these type of timber have been used by people. The Forestry Department blames the timber millers but who are the regulators?

It’s easy to start the blame game but nobody comes to compensate the people whose houses are damaged because of untreated timber. It’s about time Government officials checked all timber treatment plants.

Stop it now!

Mohammed Zubaid Jameel , Lautoka

With the increase in the numbers of rape cases and molestation of females and males it’s high time something needs to be done to STOP these.

People of Fiji should be sensible enough to not indulge themselves in such a reprehensible acts because in the end what do they get from these, a moment of pleasure? But little do they know that it’s a lifetime’s disgrace in their lives and it also affects the victims.

According to a statement made by a girl on FBC news on April 14, 2016, in India the rape victim has rights to harm (not kill) the rapist and not be charged for it, so I firmly believe that this law should be enforced so that persons thinking of doing such a ‘stupid’ act would be petrified and not commit rape.

That’s if we all decide to take a firm stand against perpetrators when encountering any sort of abuse.

If everybody starts to speak up for their rights and not be afraid, this world and our beautiful nation Fiji would be a better and a safer place to live in.

Visitor Questions

Arien V Kumar, Nadi

There is a sudden change in the visitor questions, probably some may have noticed or will soon encounter. The most common questions mostly asked by any visitor prior to making a visit to relatives or friends was,

“We are planning to make a visit, are you home today? Will you be home this weekend?

We are on our way, do you need anything? Etc,etc”.

However, the recent and common question now is that “Do you guys have power (electricity) at home because we wanting to make a visit? Ours if off here what about you people?”.

I vividly recall some more than five years back when the board of the then Air Pacific and the now revamped national airline Fiji Airways was contemplating the recruitment of a specialist expatriate to join and take over as CEO of our ailing airline and included was the replacing of the ageing outdated leased Jumbo Boeing 747s with the more robust modern Airbus A330s models which is now a trend the world over.

Our Government had to quickly interfere to protect the bigger interest of our economy, our very national airline and our tourism industry including the removal of the archaic Qantas majority shareholding that was manipulated by its hidden agendas which benefited a foreign airline but not our nation and the Fijian people.

The phasing out of the Boeing 747s saw the arrival of our new state-of-the-art Airbus A330s with changes to two past key specialist expatriate chief executive officers (CEOs) combined with a re-engineered slim and vibrant operations.

All at the Fiji Airways family must be applauded for their commitment to its unique Fijian service delivery and their tireless combined efforts in ensuring two consecutive years of good bottom-line figures and profitability.

As usual, there were also fear mongers from those negative elements within Fiji Airways who are very good at creating and spreading unfounded gossip with allegations from those who did not want to accept the changes to be effected for the betterment of the organisation but with time all have now come to pass with its employees all being appreciated through monetary incentives for their successes.

The political will to make changes with the necessary reforms must be applauded by all.

Our visionary Government with its leadership, a prudent smart world class CEO with his executive team and the board of directors of Fiji Airways past and present must all be commended for their modern innovative management system conducive with international best business practice.

A much better result is expected in the next financial year. Go get it; in this instance the Fiji Airways family is certainly stronger than Category Five Tropical Cyclone Winston in the commercial sense.

Climate Change Irony

Floyd Robinson, Suva

As per the international community, small islands which often experience the direct impacts of climate change have many opportunities to access funding from a range of international donors.

At large international conferences representatives including directors, prime ministers and presidents are often invited to sit at the main dais and are given much prominence.

Yet, the reality national representatives face when they go back home is the same. The criteria of donors are complicated.

Sometimes the amount of technical details required becomes a burden to these islands, which are often limited in resources, let alone having available necessary technical reports.

All in all, climate change funding opportunities are so challenging that it becomes an irony. The most affected countries struggle to access funding, often set up to support them. Others call it a reality.

Only in Fiji

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Delta, BC, Canada

My younger brother has returned to the USA after spending three weeks in Fiji.

To make me laugh, he shared a true story about some people who had applied for $1000 from the FNPF to go towards rebuilding their homes.

The nearby watering hole from the FNPF office in Suva is able to cash the $1000 cheque if the payee bought a carton of beer at the pub.

My brother said that it was sad to see the people flood this watering hole and some were bled dry by the ladies and men of the night.

What really got him laughing were the three cheers for FNPF and the chant “Go FNPF Go” from the drunken FNPF members and their friends.

This was followed by someone toasting three cheers for our Prime Minister.

Only in Fiji!

Who owns which TV?

Amenatave Yaconisau, Delainavesi

I request the Telecommunications Commission to inform the TV watching audience of Fiji as to who owns TV Wan and TV Wan Sports, both of which have suddenly appeared for public consumption

The public should demand the commission through the Minister for Communications its ownership and the necessity of having another station on top of the ones we already have.

While I understand TV progammes need competition from others, I wonder if the stations have been approved by Parliament.

I also wonder if consumers have a choice or has it been shoved down our throats.